210 Fun Facts About April Fools' Day

Which English poet's 1392 tale of the cock Chauntecleer is a disputed early reference to April Fools' Day?

Modern scholars think a copying error is to blame and that Chaucer meant 2 May.

The earliest clear reference to April Fools' Day is a 1561 poem by Eduard de Dene, writing in which language?

It describes a nobleman sending his servant on foolish errands on 1 April.

What does 'poisson d'avril', first mentioned by a French poet in 1508, literally mean?

In France, Italy and Belgium the classic prank is still to stick a paper fish on someone's back.

In France, Italy and Belgium, what do pranksters try to attach to a victim's back on 1 April?

Chocolate fish fill the shop windows in France in the days beforehand.

One April Fools' theory cites France's move of New Year's Day to 1 January, made official in which year?

The story goes that people who kept celebrating the new year around 1 April were mocked as fools, though historians doubt it.

On 1 April 1698, several Londoners were tricked into going to the Tower of London to see what?

The 'washing of the lions' hoax was repeated for well over a century, complete with printed tickets.

In the United Kingdom, tradition holds that April Fools' pranks must stop at what time of day?

Anyone playing a joke after that is said to become the fool themselves.

What is Scotland's April Fools' prank of sending someone off with a sealed 'Dinna laugh, dinna smile...' note called?

A gowk is a cuckoo, and the message tells each recipient to send the victim on another mile.

In Scotland the day after April Fools' was traditionally 'Tailie Day'. What was pinned to people's backs?

Scotland effectively had a two-day festival of pranks.

Iran's 'Lie of the Thirteenth' prank day, Sizdah Be-dar, falls in which Iranian month?

Families spend the day picnicking outdoors and throw their Nowruz sprouted greens into running water.

In Spain, Hispanic America and the Philippines, the day for pranks ('inocentadas') falls on which date?

It commemorates the Massacre of the Innocents ordered by King Herod.

Humorina, an annual humour festival with a 1 April parade, is held in which Ukrainian city?

It began as a protest by the local KVN comedy team after the Soviet Union cancelled the KVN TV competition.

Poland's April 1 prank belief is so strong that a 1683 alliance signed that day was officially dated to when?

Nobody wanted a treaty with Leopold I to be mistaken for a prima aprilis joke.

In Danish, Swedish and Icelandic, April Fools' Day goes by what name?

Nordic newspapers traditionally slip exactly one fake story into the 1 April edition.

On 1 April 1957, the BBC's Panorama showed Swiss farmers harvesting what from trees?

Callers asking how to grow their own were told to 'place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best'.

Which respected broadcaster's voice-over made the BBC's 1957 pasta-harvest hoax so believable?

Millions watched, and hundreds phoned in the next day.

The BBC's 1957 pasta harvest was supposedly taking place in which Swiss canton?

Cameraman Charles de Jaeger got the idea from schoolteachers who teased Austrian pupils that spaghetti grew on trees.

Roughly how many people watched the BBC's Panorama pasta-harvest report on 1 April 1957?

Panorama was one of Britain's most trusted programmes, which is why the joke landed so well.

In 1980 the BBC announced that which London landmark's clock face was going digital?

Listeners were even offered the old clock hands as prizes.

Which astronomer told BBC Radio 2 listeners in 1976 that a planetary alignment would let them float if they jumped?

Callers duly rang in to report a strange floating sensation.

In 1962, Swedish television told viewers they could get colour TV by stretching what over the screen?

Sweden did not actually get colour broadcasts until 1970.

The Guardian's 1977 April Fools' island San Serriffe had place names that were all puns on what?

Readers wrote in with holiday memories, and airlines fielded complaints about the non-existent destination.

The map of The Guardian's fictional San Serriffe was drawn in the shape of which punctuation mark?

Geoffrey Taylor based it on a miniature New Zealand.

Sports Illustrated's 1985 hoax pitcher Sidd Finch played for which team and threw how fast?

He had supposedly learned it from a lama in Tibet; the first letters of the sub-headline spelled 'Happy April Fools' Day'.

Which author, known for participatory journalism, wrote the Sidd Finch hoax for Sports Illustrated?

Plimpton later expanded the joke into a novel.

In 1996 which fast-food chain ran ads claiming to have bought a Philadelphia landmark to help reduce the national debt?

White House press secretary Mike McCurry played along, saying the Lincoln Memorial was being sold to Ford as the Lincoln-Mercury Memorial.

The $300,000 'Taco Liberty Bell' prank of 1996 is estimated to have generated roughly how much free publicity?

Sales also rose by more than $1 million over the first two days of April.

In 1992, National Public Radio reported that which former president would run for the White House again?

Outraged listeners flooded the switchboard before the joke was revealed.

What was Google's first April Fools' hoax in 2000, asking users to project a mental image of their search?

Google Gulp (2005) later promised to tune your neurotransmitters, and Google Nose (2013) let you search by smell.

Which real Google product, announced on 1 April 2004 with a one-gigabyte inbox, was dismissed as an April Fools' joke?

It was a double fake: the jokey announcement was serious.

In which year did Google stop doing its annual April Fools' jokes?

The company cited the COVID-19 pandemic and has not resumed the tradition as of 2026.

Which soul singer's death on 1 April 1984 was initially disbelieved because of the date?

He was shot by his father the day before his 45th birthday.

Why were radio staff announcing Selena's death on 31 March 1995 accused of lying?

Fans only accepted the news once major outlets confirmed it.

In Iran, pranks on the 13th day of the new year have reportedly been played since roughly which year?

That would make it by far the oldest prank tradition on record.

What website keeps the most extensive archive of April Fools' pranks through history?

Its list of the top 100 April Fools' hoaxes of all time is topped by the spaghetti harvest.

Per the disputed Chaucer theory, the fox tricks Chauntecleer 32 days from which date, making it 1 April?

Most scholars now read the line as 'Syn March was gon', meaning 32 days after March ended, or 2 May.

The Iranian festival on which the 'Lie of the Thirteenth' is played involves throwing what into moving water?

The sabzeh has sat on the Haft-Seen table since Nowruz and is said to carry away the family's bad luck.

How many major US newspapers carried the 1996 'Taco Liberty Bell' advertisement on 1 April?

Thousands of people phoned Taco Bell and the National Park Service before the noon reveal.

How long was the BBC Panorama pasta-harvest report of 1957?

Short enough to seem like a light closing item, which is exactly why nobody suspected it.

The Spanish-speaking world's prank day, the Day of the Holy Innocents, marks which biblical king's massacre?

Newspapers and TV stations in Spain run elaborate fake stories every 28 December.

What phrase do Germans shout to reveal an Aprilscherz?

Germany's double 'April' does the same job as the British cry of 'April fool!'

In the traditional Irish April Fools' prank, what do the words inside the 'important letter' say?

Each recipient reads it and forwards the victim on to yet another person, just like Scotland's gowk hunt.

What do French bakeries and chocolatiers sell in their windows on 1 April?

The fish motif also decorated many French April Fools' postcards from the late 19th century.

What is 1 April called in Dutch-speaking areas that share the 'April fish' tradition?

Italians call it pesce d'aprile and the French poisson d'avril; all three mean 'April fish'.

How does a Lebanese prankster reveal the joke?

The Arabic phrase kizbat awwal nisan translates as 'First of April Lie'.

What do Turks shout to reveal an April Fools' joke?

Turkish pranks are mostly verbal and end with a cry that simply means '1 April!'

Which Swedish rhyme ending 'you silly herring' reveals the prank?

The full line boasts 'I can trick you wherever I want!'; a May version threatens to trick you into Scania.

How many false stories do most Nordic news outlets publish on 1 April?

The single fake story is typically front-page but never the top headline in Nordic newspapers.

What is April Fools' Day called in Poland?

The Latin name simply means 'the 1st of April'; for some Poles the pranking ends at noon.

Where in Spain is 1 April celebrated as 'Dia d'enganyar' because of British rule in the 1700s?

Most of the Spanish-speaking world pranks on 28 December instead, the Day of the Holy Innocents.

What is 1 April called in Brazil?

Brazil's 'Day of the lie' comes from Portuguese influence rather than the Spanish December custom.

What was Scotland's April Fools' Day originally called?

'Gowk' is Scots for cuckoo or fool; the Gaelic name translates as 'the day of running the cuckoo'.

Which of these is a regional English word for a fool, per April Fools' lore?

Other regional terms include noodle, gob and gobby.

Which artist and activist founded New York City's annual April Fools' Day Parade in 1986?

The parade runs from Fifth Avenue and 59th Street to Washington Square Park, where a King or Queen of Fools is crowned.

Where does New York's April Fools' Day Parade end, with the crowning of a King or Queen of Fools?

Floats lampoon the year's most notable 'fools' among politicians and celebrities.

Who made the first British reference to April Fools', calling it 'Fooles holy day' in 1686?

Aubrey's note came a dozen years before the famous 1698 Tower of London lion-washing prank.

What do modern scholars think Chaucer's disputed Chauntecleer date actually points to?

Scholars think a copying error turned 'Syn March was gon' into 'Since March began'.

Which royal decree of 1564 officially fixed the start of the French year, a date some tie to April Fools'?

The change was called for at the Council of Trent the previous year, though the April Fools' link is disputed.

Which folklorists' 1950s study documented the British rule that pranks stop at noon?

The Opies found the custom throughout countries whose traditions came from Britain.

Which biblical episode did an 1789 newspaper claim as the origin of April Fools' Day?

The Public Advertiser argued the dove was sent on a 'sleeveless errand', just like an April fool.

What logo does Odesa's Humorina festival use?

Artist Arkady Tsykun designed the emblem, and since 2010 the festival has merged with an International Clown Festival.

In what year did Odesa's Humorina April Fools' festival begin?

Locals reveal pranks with the rhyme 'First of April — worldwide lies'.

Which Argentine phrase, roughly 'may your innocence serve you', is said after a Holy Innocents prank?

Spain simply shouts '¡Inocente!' and Colombia says 'Pásala por Inocentes'.

What rhyme do British and Irish kids say each time the calendar page turns?

The victim can reply 'a flick and a kick for being so quick'.

Which real 1946 event on 1 April was tragically mistaken by some for a hoax?

The tsunami killed 165 people in Hawaii and Alaska.

Which country became the first to recognise same-sex marriage, on 1 April 2001?

The date's association with jokes made a landmark law sound like a prank to some.

Which comedian's death, announced 1 April 2005, was doubted because of the date?

Hedberg had actually died on 29 March 2005.

Which short NBA guard's 1 April 2011 draft declaration was doubted as an April Fools' joke?

Thomas went on to become an All-Star despite his height, proving the announcement was no prank.

Which network's cancellation of Guiding Light on 1 April 2009 was disbelieved even by its cast?

The soap opera's crew thought the announcement was just another April Fools' stunt.

What was the Roseanne episode titled 'April Fools' Day' actually about?

The misleading title was itself the joke; the plot centred on 15 April.

Which SpongeBob SquarePants episode revolves around a day of pranks?

It was the 19th episode of the show's first season.

What genre is the 1986 film April Fool's Day?

A direct-to-video remake followed in 2008.

Which author's novel April Fool's Day (1993) is named for the day his son died?

The Australian writer of The Power of One used the title with painful irony.

What punishment did Thai police threaten in 2021 for posting fake news on April Fools'?

The warning came during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many groups urged people not to prank at all.

Where was some of the BBC's 1957 spaghetti-harvest footage actually filmed?

Other scenes were shot at a hotel in Castagnola, Switzerland.

Which cameraman dreamed up the BBC spaghetti-tree hoax?

He remembered his Austrian teachers joking that pupils would believe spaghetti grew on trees.

What budget did Panorama's editor give for filming the spaghetti-tree hoax?

Editor Michael Peacock recalled the modest sum in a 2014 BBC interview.

What did the BBC advise viewers who asked how to grow a spaghetti tree?

Hundreds phoned in the day after the broadcast asking for cultivation tips.

Which network called the 1957 spaghetti report the biggest hoax a reputable news outlet ever pulled?

Spaghetti was still exotic in 1957 Britain, which helped the film convince millions.

Which Sports Illustrated editor asked George Plimpton to write an April Fools' piece in 1985?

When Plimpton couldn't find enough real sports pranks, Mulvoy let him invent one.

What footwear did fictional pitcher Sidd Finch wear on the mound?

Finch was also torn between baseball and a career on the French horn.

Where did Sidd Finch supposedly learn the mind-body mastery behind his fastball?

Plimpton claimed he studied under 'the great poet-saint Lama Milaraspa'.

Who posed as Sidd Finch in the Sports Illustrated photographs?

Joe Berton of Oak Park, Illinois stood 6 ft 4 in and wore a size 14 shoe.

What hidden message did the first letters of the Sidd Finch subhead spell out?

Despite the acrostic clue, two general managers phoned the commissioner asking about Finch.

Between which two Mets stars did the team place Sidd Finch's locker?

The Mets played along, even issuing Finch uniform number 21.

In what year did Plimpton expand the Sidd Finch hoax into a novel?

The Curious Case of Sidd Finch has Finch briefly recommit to baseball and reach the majors.

Which minor-league team gave away Sidd Finch bobbleheads in 2015?

The Cyclones didn't exist in 1985; using the Mets' logo would have cost far more.

What did White House press secretary Mike McCurry joke had also been sold in the Taco Liberty Bell prank?

He said it would be renamed the Lincoln-Mercury Memorial after its Ford Motor sale.

Which advertising agency created the Taco Liberty Bell ad?

Jon Parkinson and Harvey Hoffenberg's ad went on to win industry awards.

Who is credited with originating the Taco Liberty Bell idea?

Then-CEO John Martin's mother gets the credit for the $300,000 stunt.

What term did Taco Bell coin for its Liberty Bell stunt?

The company said it broke through advertising clutter for its 'Nothing Ordinary About It' campaign.

Where did The Guardian originally plan to place San Serriffe before a real air disaster forced a move?

Two 747s collided at Tenerife days before publication, so the island moved to the Indian Ocean.

Which country will the drifting island of San Serriffe eventually collide with?

Erosion on its west and deposition on its east make the island creep across the Indian Ocean.

Which real country's shrunken outline was the basis for the San Serriffe map?

Geoffrey Taylor designed the semicolon-shaped map from a shrunken New Zealand.

Which camera company sponsored a photo competition asking for pictures of San Serriffe?

Themed adverts helped the hoax grow from one page to seven.

Which computer scientist pays bug bounties with cheques from the fictitious Bank of San Serriffe?

Since 2008 Knuth's famous reward for finding errors in his books comes as a 'certificate of deposit' from that bank.

Which online geography game used San Serriffe's outline as its answer on April Fools' Day 2026?

The Guardian itself revived San Serriffe for hoaxes in 1978, 1980 and 1999.

Which Michigan newspaper ran the first known 'dihydrogen oxide' water scare on 1 April 1983?

It warned the substance was fatal if inhaled and produced blistering vapours.

Which 14-year-old's 1997 science project 'How Gullible Are We?' popularised the DHMO hoax?

He gathered petitions to ban 'DHMO', and journalist James Glassman coined the term 'Zohnerism'.

Which country's parliament heard a member announce a campaign to ban dihydrogen monoxide on 1 April 1998?

Three years later a New Zealand Green Party staffer fell for the same joke.

Which California city nearly banned foam cups in 2004 because dihydrogen monoxide is used to make them?

A paralegal put it on the council agenda and later blamed poor research.

Which Monty Python member narrated the BBC's 2008 flying-penguins April Fools' film?

The penguins supposedly flew from Antarctica to the Amazon rainforest.

The BBC's flying-penguin hoax credited a filmmaker whose name was an anagram of what?

'Prof Alid Loyas' tipped off a Guardian editor that the story was a stunt.

Which species of penguin starred in the BBC's 2008 flying-penguins hoax?

Animators borrowed the flight pattern of guillemots to make the penguins fly convincingly.

What BBC service was the flying-penguins hoax made to promote?

The trailer was billed as evidence for Darwin's theory of evolution.

Which Soviet leader supposedly posted the 1984 Kremvax Usenet message?

Piet Beertema of Amsterdam's CWI forged it because Usenet behind the Iron Curtain seemed absurd.

Who actually forged the 1984 Kremvax April Fools' posting?

Six years later a genuine Moscow site, demos.su, joined Usenet and named its gateway kremvax.

What was the first humorous RFC, published in June 1973?

It parodied Lewis Carroll's 'Jabberwocky' and set the tone for annual April Fools' RFCs from 1989.

What does RFC 1149, the 1990 April Fools' RFC, propose transmitting IP datagrams on?

A 1999 sequel added quality of service, and 2011 adapted the pigeons for IPv6.

What appliance does the 1998 April Fools' RFC 2324 control?

The Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol was updated in 2014 for tea.

Which Sesame Street character was 'appointed' to the Internet Architecture Board as the 2006 April Fools' stunt?

No April 1 RFC appeared that year, so the IETF list announcement filled the gap.

At what exact time did Patrick Moore say listeners could float during the 1976 hoax?

Callers soon reported floating; one woman said she and eleven friends orbited the room.

Which two planets were supposedly aligning in the 1976 BBC gravity hoax?

Pluto was still counted as the ninth planet in 1976.

What did the 1965 BBC hoax claim it could transmit over the airwaves?

Viewers reported the 'Smell-O-Vision' trial worked; the BBC and Google both revived it decades later.

What sold out in Dutch supermarkets after a 1969 TV-tax detector hoax?

Viewers were told wrapping their sets in foil would hide them from roaming inspectors.

Which Massachusetts landmark did Boston's WNAC-TV falsely report was erupting in 1980?

Residents fled and the executive producer was fired for airing unlabelled stock footage.

Which two game show hosts swapped places for April Fools' Day 1997?

Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! traded hosts for a day.

Which cartoon character 'seized control' of Cartoon Network on April Fools' Day 1997?

The 1944 Tex Avery short Happy-Go-Nutty aired on repeat from 6 am to 6 pm.

Since which year has Adult Swim pulled an April Fools' programming prank every year?

The block has aired obscure shows and surprise premieres in place of its schedule.

Which two late-night hosts swapped shows on April Fools' Day 2022?

Justin Timberlake appeared as an exaggerated Matt Damon, and the pair phoned David Letterman.

What did London's Capital Radio do to its breakfast-show time checks on 1 April 1988?

Listeners panicked about being late for work; the next year the station faked a weekday on a Saturday.

Where did San Diego's KGB-FM claim the Space Shuttle would land on 1 April 1993?

Over 1,000 people drove to the small airport during rush hour; no shuttle was flying that day.

Which Boston mayor did shock jocks Opie and Anthony falsely declare dead on 1 April 1998?

The pair were fired from WAAF after the rumour spread across the city.

Which world leader took a 1998 prank call from a UK DJ pretending to be Tony Blair?

The line went dead when the DJ asked what Mandela was doing for April Fools' Day.

Which Australian city was told by Triple J in 2000 that it had lost the Olympics?

Host Adam Spencer even staged a phone call with NSW Premier Bob Carr.

What did BBC Radio 4 claim The Archers had changed to a disco style in 2005?

The Today Programme's news bulletin carried the fake upbeat makeover.

What nickname did the CBC give Canada's fake three-dollar coin in 2008?

It followed the real loonie and toonie, and was pitched as replacing the five-dollar bill.

Which fake sponsor does NPR sometimes credit on April Fools' Day?

The tagline notes the company's protein-rich food products come in a variety of colours.

Which band's fans rushed to a Cork shopping centre in 2009 for a hoax rooftop concert?

RedFM's prank used a tribute band called U2opia.

What did the Berliner Tageblatt report had been stolen from the US Treasury in 1905?

Thieves supposedly tunnelled beneath the building.

Which city did the Tribune newspaper claim was invaded by dinosaurs on 1 April 1906?

Eight doctored photos showed tyrannosaurs and diplodoci wreaking havoc.

Which two Belgian comics magazines swapped covers on 1 April 1965?

Spirou editor Yvan Delporte devised the swap with Tintin's editors.

Which columnist claimed in 1975 that an MIT computer proved 'pawn to queen's rook four' was chess's best opening?

The Scientific American joke came from the magazine's celebrated recreational maths writer.

Which emperor supposedly named a jester king for a day, per a 1983 hoax that fooled the Associated Press?

Boston University professor Joseph Boskin invented the jester 'Kugel' story as an April Fools' joke of his own.

What happened on the comics pages on April Fools' Day 1997?

The 'comic strip switcheroo' saw dozens of artists trade characters for the day.

Which defunct GM brand did car magazines claim Toyota had bought in 2008?

Car and Driver and Automobile both said Toyota would relaunch it with rebadged SUVs.

Which London Underground route did The Independent say CERN might use as a collider in 2010?

The loop-shaped line made a plausible ring for a collider.

Which letter did a 2013 mock article claim the Royal Spanish Academy was eliminating?

Because the Academy had really dropped ch and ll, the joke was taken seriously.

What did National Geographic tweet in 2016 that it would stop publishing?

The joke played on the magazine's famously unclothed wildlife.

What did The Guardian claim UN officials would review in a 2021 April Fools' story?

The story, prompted by the Ever Given grounding, was picked up by Turkish media before the noon reveal.

What did Signetics jokingly advertise in its databooks from 1972?

'WOM' chips appeared in the catalogues through the late 1970s.

How did prankster 'Porky' Bickar fake a volcanic eruption at Sitka, Alaska?

He flew the tyres in by helicopter after planning the stunt for four years.

What did King's College, Cambridge claim in 2014 it would use instead of boy trebles?

The choir's YouTube video showed the men squeaking through the repertoire.

How tall would Philadelphia's mock 'TwoFifty Tower' have stood in a 2022 realty prank?

The height matched One World Trade Center and the year of American independence.

Which video-game character was 'murdered' in a free Sega visual novel released 31 March 2023?

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is set at Amy Rose's birthday party.

What classic prank swaps the cream in a cookie for what?

Similar swaps trade sugar for salt or vanilla frosting for sour cream.

What Vocaloid-style character began as a 2008 April Fools' joke on Japan's 2channel?

Teto later got real voicebanks and featured in four of five nominees at a 2025 awards category.

What did Pornhub rename itself on April Fools' Day 2016?

The corn videos hid a Rickroll; in 2018 the site became 'Hornhub'.

What earlier 4chan bait-and-switch trick did Rickrolling grow out of?

The video version took off around April Fools' Day 2007 before YouTube made it huge in 2008.

What did YouTube do to every featured video on its home pages on 1 April 2008?

It was YouTube's first year joining Google's April Fools' tradition.

What did the 2015 'Tin man hoax' X-ray from Radiopaedia falsely show?

The doctored image was later published as a real case in a peer-reviewed journal and retracted.

Which fictional Canadian MiG-21 variant appears in a convincing April Fools' story?

The write-up is so polished that researchers still stumble on it as fact.

Which state's comptroller tweeted in 2016 that it would issue its own currency for the first time since 1845?

Glenn Hegar's joke nodded to Texas's brief spell as an independent republic.

What did Google's 2002 hoax claim really powered its PageRank system?

'PigeonRank' came with charts of the birds' linseed consumption and Linux puns.

What was Google Gulp, announced on April Fools' Day 2005?

Its four flavours included Glutamate Grape and Sero-Tonic Water.

What did Google TiSP, a 2007 April Fools' hoax, use to deliver broadband?

Users would flush a fibre-optic cable and wait for a 'Plumbing Hardware Dispatcher'.

What did Gmail Paper offer to do with your emails in a 2007 hoax?

Ads printed in bold red on the back would pay for the '94% post-consumer organic soybean sputum' paper.

With which company did Google announce a hoax Mars settlement, 'Virgle', in 2008?

Richard Branson, Larry Page and Sergey Brin appeared in the announcement videos.

What did Gmail Custom Time (2008) claim to let users do?

Its slogan promised 'Be on time. Every time.'

What was CADIE, Google's 2009 April Fools' invention?

The 'Cognitive Autoheuristic Distributed-Intelligence Entity' even had a blog and wrote INTERCAL.

Which Kansas city did Google jokingly rename itself after in 2010?

Topeka had temporarily called itself 'Google' to court the company's fibre project.

What did Google's 2010 hoax claim you could upload to Google Docs?

Shipping objects around the globe would cost $0.10 per kg.

What did Gmail Motion (2011) claim to replace typing with?

A mime demonstrated the full-body Gmail actions in the promo video.

Why did Google Japan skip its April Fools' hoax in 2011?

Instead it showed children's doodles and postponed the joke 'until next year'.

Which much-mocked font did Google announce in 2011 as the new default for all its products?

Searching 'helvetica' also switched the whole page to the mocked font.

With which game company did Google create an 8-bit NES version of Maps in 2012?

The 'Quest' layer used Dragon Quest-style sprites on landmarks.

What input did the 2012 hoax Gmail Tap use for typing?

Google really added Morse input to its keyboard at I/O 2018.

Which motorsport did Google claim to be entering with self-driving cars in 2012?

The 'I'm Feeling Lucky' button became 'I'm Steering Lucky'.

With which satire outlet did YouTube claim in 2013 that it was closing to pick the best video?

YouTube said it would return in 2023 to post the single winning video.

What was Google Nose, unveiled on April Fools' Day 2013?

Users were told to click a 'Smell' button on select Knowledge Graph items.

Which 2014 Google Maps April Fools' app later became a real game in 2016?

The concept was refined and released as Pokémon Go.

Which celebrity did Google say it would randomly insert into your Google+ photos in 2014?

The 'Auto-Awesome Photobombs' announcement appeared on the official Google Blog.

How long did the 2015 Pac-Man view on Google Maps remain available?

Engineer John Tantalo and his mathematician wife Mary Radcliffe built Pac-Maps.

Which song did YouTube and Twitter suggest for every song search on April Fools' 2015?

The joke referenced the 'Darude – Sandstorm' comment meme.

What did Google's 2015 'equator slipping' hoax predict for Cape York?

Veritasium's Derek Muller lent fake evidence about the equator drifting 25 km a year.

What did the 2016 Gmail 'Mic Drop' button insert into sent emails?

Google pulled it fast after people accidentally sent it to employers.

Which rapper fronted YouTube's 360-degree 'SnoopaVision' hoax in 2016?

Google claimed he became the 'true leader' of the project.

What was Google Cardboard Plastic (2016)?

Users would simply see real life through it.

What was Google Gnome, the 2017 April Fools' product?

Its announcement video spawned memes much like the Amazon Echo ad had.

What did Google Wind (2017) claim Dutch windmills could do?

Google Netherlands blamed 145 rainy days a year for the invention.

What was Google's 2017 Mars data centre nicknamed?

Google Cloud even offered a Street View walk-through of the fictional facility.

Which fictional alien language did Google Translate claim to support in 2017?

It came from 'Story of Your Life' and its film adaptation Arrival.

Where was the secret sixth Where's Waldo scene hidden in Google Maps in 2018?

Zooming out in Satellite view unlocked it after the five Earth scenes.

What did a 2018 Google hoax claim 80% of Aussies call the search engine?

Designer Jazza made the video with fake survey results.

What classic game could you play on Google Maps in several cities in 2019?

Cairo, London, San Francisco, São Paulo, Sydney and Tokyo were among the playable maps.

What did Google Nederland's 2019 flower app claim to translate?

Google Nederland's video promised a chat with your garden.

What kitchen utensil did Google Japan's 2019 Gboard hoax use for typing?

An 'outdoor version' would use a fishing rod, and a 'hands off' version telepathy.

On which date, six months after April Fools', did Google Japan release its 2022 novelty keyboard?

Google Japan moved its joke keyboards to this date; the 2022 model was a single-row bar keyboard 5.25 feet long.

What shape was Google Japan's 2024 double-sided novelty keyboard?

The 2025 version was based on rotary-dial phones.

Which pioneering scientist's birthday did Google mark on 1 April 2020 instead of a hoax?

The Australian polio researcher's doodle replaced the cancelled pranks during the pandemic.

How much free storage did Gmail launch with, versus Hotmail's 2 MB, that made it sound like a hoax?

Google called it a 'double fake' — a real product announced in jokey April Fools' language.

What claim did Burger King make about its 1998 'Left-Handed Whopper'?

A 2013 sequel promised a 'hands-free Whopper holder'.

What Latin species name was given to the hoax Pacific Northwest tree-dwelling cephalopod?

Its chief predator was said to be the Sasquatch; the site is used to teach kids web literacy.

In a 2007 study, how many of 53 US schoolchildren rated the tree-octopus site 'very reliable'?

Only six thought it unreliable, and all six had just had a lesson using the site.

On what date was the medieval Feast of Fools celebrated by clergy?

Lower clergy elected a mock bishop or pope and parodied church ritual.

Which goddess was honoured at the ancient Roman Hilaria festival, sometimes linked to April Fools'?

Held around 25 March, it allowed masquerades in which anyone could impersonate even magistrates.

What did the physics lab CERN claim it was switching all its publications to in 2014?

The physics lab's joke played on the font's reputation among designers.

Who created the Museum of Hoaxes website in 1997?

Boese has also written the books Hippo Eats Dwarf and Elephants on Acid.

Which Iranian festival, on the 13th day of Farvardin, is also known as Nature Day?

Families picnic outdoors and throw their sprouted greens into running water.

Behind which presenter did a staged staff fight break out on BBC's Grandstand on 1 April 1989?

Lynam was mid-sentence praising his team's professionalism; the brawl was revealed as a joke at the end of the show.

Which BBC radio programme featured a spoof theatrical manager, Sir Harry Whitlohn, in 1963?

The long-running castaway show was an early radio April Fool; the BBC went on to stage many more over the decades.

In 1992, Norfolk, Virginia DJs falsely reported leaking methane at which landfill-turned-park?

The park in Virginia Beach really is built atop a covered landfill, which made the explosion scare plausible to listeners of WNOR.

In 2009, North Carolina country station WIXE's midday host claimed he was switching his show to what?

Bob Rogers' stunt drew numerous phone calls, about half of them from listeners wanting to request a song.

How many doctored photographs illustrated the Chicago Tribune's 1906 dinosaur-invasion hoax?

The two-page feature showed tyrannosaurs, diplodoci and other 'prehistoric monsters' wreaking havoc across the city.

Residents of which Alabama city reported a wolf-like creature with a woman's head from 1 April 1971?

More than 50 callers rang the local newspaper about the 'Wolf Woman'; sightings stopped soon after the paper ran the story on April 8.

What was the name of the satirical spoof section GamePro magazine printed every April until 2007?

The 2-5 page parody carried humorous game titles and fictional news, though some content, such as ways to trigger useless glitches, was real.

How much did the 'mummified fairy' from a 2007 April Fools' hoax eventually fetch on eBay?

An illusion designer for magicians had posted images of the 20 cm 'corpse' on his website before selling it.

What did Bing's pretend 2015 product, the 'Cute Cloud', claim to be?

Microsoft's search engine joined the annual tech-company tradition that Google had made famous.

What was the 'Hotelicopter' that was supposedly about to take off from New York in 2009?

The hoax was dreamed up by a marketing company for a hotel search site.

Which circuit did the British Superbike Championship claim in 2021 would be covered in dirt for a June meeting?

The joke came three days after an American stock-car series really did race on a dirt-covered Bristol Motor Speedway.